Fewer Arizonans were arrested for DUIs over Memorial Day weekend this year than in 2023
May 29, 2024, 1:00 PM
There were 11,156 total traffic stops from May 24-27 this year, authorities said. (File photo by: Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
(File photo by: Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
PHOENIX — Authorities arrested fewer Arizonans for driving under the influence this Memorial Day weekend than last year.
New data from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety found the total number of DUI arrests this year was 405.
Of those, 72 were aggravated DUIs, while 333 were misdemeanor DUIs.
That’s a drop from the total DUI arrests of 456 last year, which included 78 aggravated DUIs and 378 misdemeanor DUIs.
Good news from Arizona report on Memorial Day weekend DUI statistics
On top of that, there were 67 extreme DUI arrests this year. Authorities use the term extreme when a driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) is over 0.15% and report the category separately from the total DUI number.
RELATED STORIES
In comparison, there were 79 extreme DUI arrests the year before.
There were also fewer DUI drug arrests — but only by a small margin. Authorities arrested 117 people for the crime this holiday weekend, while they arrested 119 people last year.
However, one DUI statistic worsened this year.
Bad news from report on Memorial Day weekend DUI arrests in Arizona
There were 21 under 21 DUI arrests this year. That’s a spike from last year’s total number of 16 arrests in this category.
Furthermore, authorities issued more child restraint citations this year than the last.
Over Memorial Day weekend in 2024, there were 74 child restraint citations, while in 2023, there were only 55.
Distracted driving citations were also up. In fact, there were 156 of these citations this year. Meanwhile, in 2023, there were only 140.
Another statistic jumped this year: criminal speed citations. There were 254 citations in this category. However, in 2023, authorities issued only 215 criminal speed citations.
Additionally, Arizonans had more trouble keeping their cars this year.
There were 184 30-day vehicle impounds in 2024, while in 2023, there were only 150.
How else did Arizona drivers perform over the holiday weekend?
On the bright side, there were fewer civil speed citations this year compared to 2023.
In 2024, there were 3,542 civil speed citations, while the year before, there were 3,794.
Arizonans also were better at using their seat belts. There were 281 citations for this offense, while there were 316 the year before.
Drivers in the Grand Canyon state also had slightly lower known BACs this Memorial Day weekend, with an average of 0.142. It’s a slight from from the 0.149 the year before.
